Tuesday, July 28, 2015

A gentleman came out of an adjacent building and wanted to know who I was and why I was taking photos of this. He thought I was from the city. I told him I'm a hobbyist and the "BLAIR BUSINESS COLLEGE" caught my eye. That made him feel better. Now he's got me wondering.

Part of my paper route from many years ago. I don't remember much about the Otis Hotel except that I hated going in there.

Friday, July 24, 2015

Once or twice a year I ride along Waikiki to Rutter Parkway and then the Nine Mile Falls dam where I take the Centennial Trail all the way downtown. I should do that more often. At 5:30 am it's a beautiful sight. Moose, deer, ospreys, herons, and turkeys are usually out and about. And it's quiet.

St Luke's Rehabilitation Institute holds a Ski Fest every year allowing people with various disabilities to go water skiing or tubing. Employees and interns from St Luke's and a bunch of friends at Clear Lake volunteer their time, boats, and jet skis to make for two days of water fun. I hung out there all day yesterday and took a ton of photos. Everyone was having a blast.

The volunteers have developed an excellent system. One or two jet skis, each carrying a "jumper", follow just behind the participant as they're being pulled by the boat. If the participant can swim then only one jet ski follows. Two follow if they can't swim. Jumpers have one responsibility and that's to get to the participant as quickly as possible and keep them upright in the water. Whether or not the participant has the hand and arm strength to hang onto the pull rope, the boat has a quick release to cut the participant loose in case of trouble. The boat drivers and crew have years of experience and drive according to the participant's physical ability and level of comfort. I noticed that once a new participant got comfortable they asked to step it up a notch. Some things remain universal.

I was talking with Joel, the guy on the slalom wearing a big smile in the photo above. He also plays sled hockey, which piqued my interest since I'm a former C-league recreation league hockey player.

"Yeah, come on out this fall. We can put you in a sled. It's a lot of fun."

He also plays wheelchair rugby and described the wheelchairs as "Mad Max like with bumpers 'n' stuff". Well, that certainly sounds like fun.